San Antonio restaurant inspections: Jan. 19, 2018

Highlights: Inspector observed waitress make drinks for customers at handwashing sink; meat found placed on floor to drain – inspector found “lint and dust” on food; food found stored in non-food grade bags; food not protected from cross-contamination (uncovered food in refrigeration units); mildew buildup seen on undercarriage, flap of ice machine; food-contact surfaces must be clean to sight/touch; employee did not wash hands between switching tasks; employee seen handling ready-to-eat foods with bare hands; chemicals must be approved for commercial use; no Certified Food Manager present at time of inspection; employee was not aware of dish washing procedures; food handlers must have certifications; baseboards behind sink, refrigeration were rotting

Highlights: Inspector observed waitress make drinks for customers at handwashing sink; meat found placed on floor to drain – inspector found “lint and dust” on food; food found stored in non-food grade bags; food not protected from cross-contamination (uncovered food in refrigeration units); mildew buildup seen on undercarriage, flap of ice machine; food-contact surfaces must be clean to sight/touch; employee did not wash hands between switching tasks; employee seen handling ready-to-eat foods with bare hands; chemicals must be approved for commercial use; no Certified Food Manager present at time of inspection; employee was not aware of dish washing procedures; food handlers must have certifications; baseboards behind sink, refrigeration were rotting

In a week that will be remembered for its biting cold weather and icy conditions, more than two dozen San Antonio restaurants received not-so-hot scores on their most recent health inspections.

Just weeks after moving to a new location at The Pearl, San Antonio comfort food favorite Earl Abel's landed on this week's list of dirtiest restaurants in the Alamo City. The Broadway shop that used to be home to Timbo's was cited for having a damaged spatula and copper bowl in the kitchen, as well as holes in the butcher block table and a broken thermometer in a hot box used to store cooked chicken.

A total of 25 establishments made this week's list of dirty restaurants, according to reports.

Elsewhere, a city health inspector saw lint and dust on a piece of meat placed on the floor to drain at Beijing Express on Fredericksburg Road. The restaurant, which was lowest-scoring of the week, also had mildew buildup on its ice machine, and an employee was seen making a drink for a customer at a handwashing sink.

Magic Time Machine was cited for having molded strawberries in storage. River Walk establishments Cafe Ole and Mad Dog's British Pub were cited after an inspector noticed that food wasn't held at the correct temperature at each spot.

To make the Express-News' list of dirtiest restaurants, an establishment must earn a score of 89 or below — or anything less than an "A" — during a random city health inspection.

Other notable locations making this week's list include the Wyndham Garden River Walk, Taquitos West Avenue, the Oak Hills Country Club and two Wing Daddy's locations.

The San Antonio Express-News examines hundreds of restaurant inspections each week conducted by the San Antonio Food and Environmental Health Services division to bring you the eateries with scores of 89 or below.

Restaurants are graded on a 100-point system, where "100" is a perfect score, and demerits are based upon the number of violations found during a regular food establishment inspection. There are three categories of demerits and each are assigned a demerit score of 3, 2 or 1 points, according to the health division.

Scores and demerits listed are only representative of the state of the restaurant at the time of inspection and establishments are surveyed at random.

See the other restaurants that landed on this week's list of dirtiest restaurants in the slideshow above.